Snap fastener member



Aug. 23, E832 gH sg 873,391

SNAP FASTENER MEMBER Filed Nov. 7, 1950 Patented Aug. 23, 1932 onrrso GUSTAV Jonnson, or waste RoXBunY,

FASTENER CORPORATIGN, F CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 'OF MASSACHUSETTS SN'AIP FASTENEB MEMBER .Appiication filed November 7, 1920. Serial No. 494,030.

My invention aims, to provide improvements in snap fastener members. v This application is a d 'vision of my co-' pendingapplication, Serial No; a50,73i, filed May 8, 1930.

In the drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention I Figure 1 is a section through a preferred embodiment of, a socket installation,

Figs. 2 and 8 show the method and means of attachment of the socket to a structure;

Fig. 4: includes a plan and a cross-section of the socket after the slots have been made in the boss portion;

Fig. 5 includes a plan. and a cross-section of. the part shown in Fig. 4 after the boss has been compressed to reduce the width of. the slots; v

Fig.6 includes a plan and a cross-section of the socket piece showing a step in the forming of the endsof the yieldable fingers of the boss and the forming of the attaching means;

Fig. 7 shows, in plan and in section the completed socket part after the boss has been successively laterally compressed to reduce the width of the slots; 7

Figs. 8 and .9 show'respectively a plan and a section of a socket part similar to that shown in Fig. 7 but without the integral attaching means; and V p Fig. shows a socket installation including the part shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to the stud-engaging part of the socket installation shown in Fig. 7 I have shown a snap fastener stud-engaging part having a base 1 from which'is pressed a central boss 2, divided by slots 3 and having a stud-receiving aperture 4. The stud-receivingv aperture 4: is surrounded by jaw portions 5. The peripheral portion of the base 1 is rolled over to provide a substantially U-shaped portion 1 into which the rivet 6 or other attaching means is forced when the socketis attached to a supporting structure 7 (Fig.1) in the usual manner. The central boss 2 is preferably curved adjacent to the base 1 to provide an anvil portion 8 against which-the'end of the rivet 6 is forced to be turned into the I ei-shaped portion 1*. 1 V l-Ieretofore, sockets of the same general construction, as illustrated, 1n the drawing,

have beenmanufactured, but so far as I am aware such sockets were provided with stud engaging'parts having slots which were of such width in the anvil portion that they interfe'red with the proper turning of the rivets or prongs of the parts used to attach the sockets to their supports, or the slots were not carried into the anvil portion. I have found that if the slots in the anvil portion are of the usual width the end of a rivet many times becomes deformed improperly because material thereof catches in the slots thereby making an imperfect attachment of the socket installation. If the slots are not carried into the anvil part the 'yieldable fingers Ofthe boss are too short and become set thereby I rendering the fastener of little or no value.

I My invention overcomes the dificulties specified above by utilizing a'difiere'nt and additional method of-manufacture and at the same time producing a fastener part I which in appearance is the same as those having the slots of usual width extending into the anvilportion. In my device the'slots are substantially closed'in the anvil portion so that the anvil presents a substantially continuous surface against which the rivet or attaching prongs may be upset without interference from the slots.

The method of making the stud-engaging part shown in the drawing is the same as has Y been practiced-heretofore with the exception of the method of making the slots 3 in the boss 2. Therefore, I shall describe only that part of the method which I consider as necessary to understand my invention. 7

The boss 2 is formed from a blank in the usual manner by successive drawing operations, as shown in my co-pending parentapplication Then the part is presented to suitable stamping means which cuts out the boss 2 to provide the slots 3 and the aperture 1, as shown in Fig. i. The slots 3 extend throughout the length of the boss2 and taper so that they are somewhat more narrow at their ends adjacent to the base 1 than at the outer end.

raassaonusn'r'rs, ASSIGNOR ro'unrrnn-cann I W of the boss. The slots as shown in Fig. 4: are about as narrow as can be made by any practical method known by me prior to my new method and indicate quite clearly that they are wide enough in the anvil portion 8 (Fig. 4) to interfere with the proper setting of a rivet or prongs by admitting portions thereof.

I have found that the boss 2, as shown in Fig. 4, may be compressed to reduce the diameter thereof by squeezing it between suitable dies (not shown) thereby reducing the width of each slot 8, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. Thus that portion of each slot which is located in the anvil portion 8 is substantially closed (see the section Fig. 7) and therefore a substantially continuous surface is presented against which the rivet 6 is pressed when attaching the socket to its support 7. The remaining operation of forming the jaws 5 at the stud-receiving aperture l and the U-shaped clenching portion 1 is substantially the same as heretofore practiced and as shown in Figs 6 and 7.

While the boss 2 might be compressed by a single operation to secure the desired results of closing the slots in the anvil portion 8, I prefer to do it in successive operations and While the other elements are being formed as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7-.

By closing the slots 3 in the manner above described, I do not in any way interfere with the action of the fastener part because when a stud head is pressed through the stud-receiving aperture 4: the fingers of the boss 2 eX- pand thereby tending to enlarge the slots rather than to make them smaller. Furthermore, it should be noted that the rivet (Fig. 3) curls in such a manner that it is spaced slightly from the anvil portion 8 after it has been completely set. Therefore, even though the end of the rivet engages the yieldable anvil portion 8 during the first part ofthe set ting operation, the curling action spaces the intermediate portion of the rivet from the anvil portion sufficient distance to permit expansion thereof during engagement and disengagement of the socket with a stud.

Figs. 2 and 3 have been shown to illustrate the assembly of the parts with which my stud-engaging part is usually used. In Fig. 2 an idea of the point where the rivet will engage the anvil portion 8 (when the slots 3 are substantially closed) is given and the setting members 9 and 10 are shown, together with the spring-pressed plunger 11 carried by the setting member 10 to show how the parts are pressed together. The plunger 11 enters the stud-receiving aperture and engages the jaws 5 so that the fingers of the boss 2 cannot be set to reduce the size of the stud-receiving aperture 4 during the assembly operation. 7

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10 I have shown a studengaging part similar to the'one shown in Figs. 2,3 and 7, except that the U-shaped portion is not provided as a part of the stud part. The assembly shown in Fig. 10 is well known and is illustrated to show that my invention is not limited to any particular structure or type of snap fastener member.

l/Vhile I have shown and described illustrative embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto, because the scope of my invention is best defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A snap fastener member pressed from sheet metal and having a boss providing means for engagement with a cooperating snap fastener member, a curved anvil portion formed as a part of said boss and said boss being divided by a number of slots to provide yieldable means for engagement with the cooperating snap fastener member, the slots extending into the said anvil portion to permit substantial expansion and contraction of said boss, and those portions of said slots in said anvil portion being substantially closed so that the anvil portion may present a substantially continuous surface to permit upsetting of a hollow rivet by said anvil portion without interference from said slots therein. V

2. A sheet metal resilient snap fastener member having a boss divided by slots into a number of yieldable portions, a flange eX- tending outwardly from said boss, said slots terminating inwardly from the periphery of said flange and said slots being reduced in width for a portion of their length to present a substantially continuous surface adjacent to the narrow portions of said slots while permitting yielding of the material of the fastener adjacent to said narrow portions of said slots and said flange being curved in cross-section to provide clinching means cooperating with the boss, thereby to provide upsetting and clinching means for receiving and setting the end of a tubular rivet.

3. A snap fastener socket structure including a boss portion having a stud-receiving aperture at one end thereof, rivet-receiving anvil and clinching means adjacent to the other end thereof and said boss portion being divided by a number of slots extending from that end adjacent to the stud-receiving aperture toward and terminating in the anvil portion to permit substantial contraction and expansion of said boss and those portions of the slots in the said anvil portion being substantially closed so that the anvil portion presents a substantially continuous surface while being yieldable for the purposes illustrated and described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GUSTAV JOHNSON. 

